Gibson Desert

Gibson Desert

Arid zone, east-central Western Australia. Located south of the Great Sandy Desert, it constitutes Gibson Desert Nature Reserve and is home to many desert animals. It has an area of about 72,000 sq mi (186,000 sq km) and was named for Alfred Gibson, an explorer who was lost there in the 1870s.

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Gibson Desert

a desert in W central Australia, between the Great Sandy Desert and the Victoria Desert: salt marshes, salt lakes, and scrub. Area: about 220 000 sq. km (85 000 sq. miles)

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Gibson Desert 

a desert in western Australia between the Great Sandy Desert to the north and the Great Victoria Desert to the south.

The surface of the Gibson Desert is a plateau (elevation, 300-500 m) formed from Precambrian rocks and covered with rock debris. It is a product of the destruction of an ancient ferruginous carapace. There are remnant mountain ridges of granite and sandstone rising to 762 m in the east and salt marshes in the west. Precipitation is less than 250 mm a year and very irregular. There are sparse undergrowths of shrub acacia, oraches, and spinifex. There is extensive pasture cattle raising. The Gibson Desert was discovered in 1873 by an English expedition led by E. Giles and was named after amember of the expedition, A. Gibson.